Meet Cloud Cartel: from hosting to full-service digital

For this edition, we sat down with Aaron from Cloud Cartel to discuss the company’s journey and the philosophy behind their award-winning website.

Cloud Cartel’s story began in 2017 with just two people, originally focused on selling hosting. Since then, the company has experienced significant growth. Today, they operate with a core team of 10-12 people, including professional freelancers such as photographers and videographers.

The agency has evolved into a comprehensive, full-service digital partner. It handles everything from branding and web design to digital marketing, print, and graphic design. 

Rather than limit itself to a single niche, Cloud Cartel works across a diverse range of industries, building sites for restaurants, tourism, events, eCommerce, and professional services.

The winning website: designing the agency’s digital storefront

The winning site for May 2026 was Cloud Cartel’s very own website. Building a site for your own agency is notoriously challenging, and Aaron notes that it required a massive collaborative effort from the whole team, covering everything from information architecture to UI design and communication styles.

When it came to adding interactive elements, the team initially went all out. However, they quickly realized it was too much and dialed it back. The final result is a site that feels intuitive and interactive without being overcomplicated.

When asked about the most critical aspect of mobile responsiveness, Aaron highlighted a specific technical annoyance:

  • Unchecked “X overflow” (unwanted sideways scrolling) is a major pet peeve.
  • Paying close attention to font sizing and carefully scaling design elements for smaller devices, such as mobile phones, is crucial for a strong user experience.

The Elementor partnership and AI integration

Cloud Cartel has been utilizing Elementor since 2022, implementing it across many of its client projects. 

The platform’s flexibility, speed, and ease of use make sense for both the agency’s internal workflow and its clients’ needs. Given their heavy involvement with the tool, joining the Elementor Partner Program and entering this competition was a natural next step.

The agency is also deeply attuned to the rapid pace of AI advancement, taking a proactive approach to keep ahead of the curve. Cloud Cartel hosts designated “AI days” where team members from various departments spend time exploring new platforms and newly launched market tools.

For the award-winning Cloud Cartel website itself, AI played a helpful supporting role:

  • The team used Claude to assist with writing some of the JavaScript and CSS.
  • They experimented with Adobe Firefly for some of the image generation.

Advice for aspiring creators

Looking ahead, Aaron prefers to keep the agency nimble and flexible, allowing him to remain hands-on with his team and his clients.

For newer creators or agencies struggling to find their footing, Aaron offers a candid perspective: there is no secret ingredient other than hard work. Building Cloud Cartel involved plenty of unknowns, ups and downs, and late nights.

His ultimate piece of advice?

“Try to avoid all the noise in the marketplace… Just focus on sticking to your own lane. Trying to compare yourself to someone who is 10, 15 years in the industry, and you’re maybe starting off, it’s not a great mindset to have.”

Congratulations to Aaron and the entire team at Cloud Cartel for this well-deserved distinction as Website of the Month, May 2026!

June submissions are open 

Want your best work to be featured in the next email? June submissions are now open across all tracks. 

The entries are organized by language to ensure every region gets its moment to shine. When you submit, simply select the appropriate language category for your project.

Submit now

Not a Partner yet? Apply here to qualify for submitting your site. It’s quick and free to apply.

Best. 

The Elementor Partner Team